A journalist filming a Richmond protest march with his cell phone Sunday night was assaulted and had to be taken to the hospital for stitches. From WTVR CBS 6:
A WTVR CBS 6 journalist was assaulted by a protester in Richmond Sunday night.
The journalist, who was not working for the station at the time, was using his phone to record video of a large crowd of Monument Avenue protesters passing by The Camel, a live music venue, on West Broad Street.
“Stop filming bro,” one protester yelled.
As you can see in this clip, someone with a black flag seems to be blocking the camera’s view. When the journalist refuses to stop filming he is hit in the back of the head and drops his phone.
Our @CBS6 photojournalist assaulted in the head while shooting protests in Richmond. In the hospital getting stitches. Stop the VIOLENCE! pic.twitter.com/xGEWu0SWr4
— Laura French (@lfrenchnews) August 14, 2017
The victim was taken to the hospital and received four staples to close the wound in his scalp:
— Laura French (@lfrenchnews) August 14, 2017
WTVR reports the victim later wrote, “This is not a peaceful protest.” The site also published an image of a protester carrying a baseball bat under his arm, as if trying to conceal it.
Antifa protesters often cover their faces to prevent being identified. They also ask people not to film or photograph them when they are smashing windows to prevent the images from being used to identify them.
Last June in Sacramento a large Antifa group descended on a much smaller white supremacist march and a riot resulted in which 14 people were stabbed. During the incident, Antifa protesters confronted a cameraman for KCRA-TV and told them “no cameras.”
After spending several months examining footage of the incident, the California Highway Patrol identified over 500 misdemeanors and 68 felonies on video, including the stabbings. However, most of the attackers were never identified because they were wearing masks and because Antifa members refused to cooperate with police. Ultimately, just four people were arrested.
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